Diogenes the Cynic on Slavery
In the first book of Politics Aristotle engages closely with critics of slavery but does
not give their names. Scholars have made several suggestions as to who the anonymous critics
might have been, but for these authors only very short fragments have been transmitted, which
are notoriously difficult to interpret. Might it be possible that Aristotle also (or instead) had his
contemporary Diogenes the Cynic in mind? In my talk I will reconsider the evidence for
Diogenes’ own enslavement and the sayings attributed to him regarding slavery. I will argue that
1) Diogenes was in dialogue with Aristotle and others on the issue, 2) his contemporaries and
later followers viewed him as a critic of slavery, and, 3) Cynic thought constitutes an important
strand in the history of ancient criticism of slavery, more so than scholars have generally
allowed.
